First time poster. I have had this sweet machine for two months and the ride is perfect. Was trying to pick between this and the Colnago C59, but after I had a test ride on the Parlee, the decision was "no contest" for me. Details follow:

Between these and the ritchey superlogic evo curve I chose latter because I did not like the graphics on the KFC cross bars, which are more similar in shape to the superlogics. If the Thomson bars are as good as the rest of their line they are a steal though.

I really like the handlebars, best ones I've had yet. They are comfortable on the road and fit my hands much better than the Zipp carbon bars I just took off. They came in a few grams under advertised weight. Graphics on these are pretty minimal.

Purely subjective, the Parlee Z5 SLi feels noticeably better than the Tarmac...but this is incremental rather than leaps and bounds. The Parlee is just as quick and responsive and stiff, if not more so, and it does it at a higher comfort level. When I jump on it, it takes off just as quickly or even quicker as the Tarmac Pro SL3 I had previously. I haven't flexed anything BB-wise, ever, as far as I can tell. It handles very precisely and surefootedly, but the Tarmac never gave me a problem either, it felt stiff but not particularly "nervous" as far as I could tell. Climbing? The Parlee seems to leap up the hills when I have the legs to push it.

Bottom line the Tarmac SL3 was a very fine ride, but I was in the market for something different. This Z5 SLi just kind of disappeared underneath me on a long test ride, and my mind was made up. It does everything very very well, exceeds my meager abilities and engine.

Awesome build. I would change the blue parts and maybe the cable housings and also the cranks if the frame has bb30. but these cranks are the best anyways. geometry seems really good, i love the tall head tube.

Cable housings? Not sure about that one. I am going to put on some Hollowgram SL cranks to see how they look with the Praxis rings. And those cheapo bottle cages may have saved 17 grams but seem way too loose while riding. The Arundel Mandible cages are going back on.

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